So. Where Ya Been?

Actually, it all began in August with the first phone call from my dearest friend, Barb, who lives in Paso Robles (that’s a coincidence, more later) to tell me that DeeDee, her middle daughter, had a tumor on her brain. After surgery the tumor was discovered to be benign, and it looked like a close call had been averted. We all breathed a sigh of relief and continued on with life.

Unfortunately, DeeDee’s doctors discovered in September that her sudden continual backache and headaches were metastasized cancer. In spite of the heroic efforts of her doctors, her loved ones, and her own extraordinary will, she passed away in her sleep on October 26. It was a wrenching time for all of us, because Barb, Tom (her husband), their family and my family go back over 25 years. I was bartender at DeeDee’s wedding where we all gathered in Santa Barbara and I made sure that the adult libations flowed. Of course we could not have imagined that 18 years later, the next big gathering of all friends and family would be at DeeDee’s funeral.

Aunt Joyce and I went to Paso where we spent several days of consoling family, reuniting with friends old and new, and reminiscing about the days of the big hair 80s, our children going up , and now our grandchildren. And how surreal this all seemed.

I’ve spent the last several weeks creating a video, music, and photo montage in tribute to DeeDee, and that’s been demanding the lion’s share of my “spare” time. While the DVD I made for the family is very personal, I’d like to share with you a few minutes of it. That will give you sense of the type of person DeeDee was, and how much this affected us. If you can’t see it in this post (there have been issues), just Click Here to see it on Vimeo.

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In addition, the wine itself has direct contact with the plastic bag, which is a permeable, petrochemical-based material. If the wine has any decent acid in it, that immediately should be cause for concern.

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You’d think that having all of those beautiful experiences among the stunning scenery and environment of wine country would make me long to be a winemaker. And you would be wrong. Oh so very, very wrong.

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The cork forest sucks up CO2 which is generated in part by the plastic and aluminum refining processes. “Endocrine disrupter” is not a phrase you’ll see in relationship to cork. And there’s no such thing as a “cork spill.”

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“There has never been a peer reviewed or scientific study done to corroborate the outlandish claims of 5-10% spoilage of wines due to the natural cork closure. This a fallacy, perpetuated by those with a vested, financial interest in selling alternative closures. I’m happy to have you quote me on that.”